Struggling with readings

It’s the first week of uni and so far I’ve had to do five readings for one day. Another two for tomorrow. Three for Thursday and two for Friday. I cannot keep up with this?!!!! How does everyone else manage

It’s the first week of uni and so far I’ve had to do five readings for one day. Another two for tomorrow. Three for Thursday and two for Friday. I cannot keep up with this?!!!! How does everyone else manage

That's not particularly unusual or uncommon for a good university - what course is it?

It sounds like you would benefit from timetabling your day to include specific slots for doing your readings - preferably dovetailing these with the lectures/seminars to which the readings relate. Twelve readings in a week is very manageable, and particularly when it's only two or three a day normally. I imagine you'll have far more starred readings as you progress through your course, so getting into good habits now will pay dividends.

Are all the readings you’ve had to do essential or were they classed as ‘recommended’?

You’ve just started so everything might seem quite overwhelming but you’ll soon pick up tricks on how to manage the workload. For example if the readings are just for seminar discussions do you need to be reading them thoroughly? Or can you just skim read?
Also make sure to be talking to your classmates to see how they’re coping. If you’re still really struggling in a few weeks, talk to your personal tutor or seminar leader.

Hi thanks. It’s been 5 days and I’m feeling much better about it all. Skim reading is a skill I need to pick up and the first day was super overwhelming. But thank you for your help

It’s the first week of uni and so far I’ve had to do five readings for one day. Another two for tomorrow. Three for Thursday and two for Friday. I cannot keep up with this?!!!! How does everyone else manage

Hi there,

I'm sorry to hear that you're having difficulty keeping up with the readings.

A top tip I do when I'm reading articles is skim reading for any key phrases, and read around those words. Skim-reading is a skill that definitely gets better with time but if you start trying to form the habit now, in a couple of months time I'm sure you'll be a pro.

Have you made any friends on your course? It may be a good idea to chat with some of them to see how they're coping with the workload, so you learn from each other You could even all take an article each and make summaries - and share your findings!

I hope that's helpful and has given you some things to think about - best of luck to you.

Ana
University of Liverpool Rep.

Hi thanks for the reply! Yes it takes me too long to do the readings but after the first few days it was already getting much easier. Some of us got together on the weekend to talk about the readings so we could understand it better